Monthly Archives: November, 2010

We Are Seven Years From Retiring. How About This Plan for Eliminating Our Debt? – Alan

“Dear Steve, We are 7 years from retiring ( we are on target to have 5K a month in retirement annuities) Owe 110K on house Have 68K in college loans for 4 kids to pay off Have 28K in credit card Have 25K in 2 car loans The wife and I bring home 102K combined [...]

My Parents Put Me On Their Credit Cards When I Was 15. Now They Use My Credit. – Emma

When I was 15, my parent’s started building my credit by placing me on their cards. Today, I have excellent credit. However, about maybe two years ago, my parent’s lost our home to foreclosure, and their credit was ruined. They now use my credit when they need it. They take care of all those debts. [...]

I’m Totally Broke and Drowning…Help! – Linda

I am 47 years old and single mother to two teenaged children. I have a decent job and make good money for the area where I live. I bought a home in 2008, put $30,000.00 down on it (nearly my entire life savings). My house payments, insurance and taxes are equal to 2 weeks of [...]

What’s the Best Way to Fix My Charge Off and Get it Removed

Fixing charged off debt A few years ago I took a 25k loan which eventually I could not pay back. The debt has been charged off, and occasionally a company sends letters saying that they want their money. Recently I’ve began working a new job that pays very well, so I want to fix all [...]

Payday Lenders Prepare for Big Payday Loan Rush in December

Payday lenders know what happens each December, they get busy. While there has been much written about the dangers of payday loans, there seems almost nothing that will break the trend of accelerating payday loan interest in December. Since 2004, December has proven to be a very popular month for payday loans, right behind late [...]

I Need to Get Out of Debt But Not Let My Husband Know. It Needs to be a Secret. – Karen

“Dear Steve, I am 51 year old woman with a husband and two kids 21 and 17. been married for 32 years. the last few years or more i should say things just have gotton way out of control. i work two jobs and hubby one. i have always supported my kids to do there [...]

Ameripride Tax Group – Scam, Complaint, Review, or Praise?

Please share your experience with this debt relief company and provide your review and feedback, in the comments section below. The goal of this page is to allow people to share information that may be important to help others to make a more informed decision regarding their experience with this debt relief company. Here are [...]

Does the Wave of Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) Suits Benefit Consumers or Lawyers?

A tipster (send in your tips here) forwarded to me an article about Thomas Lyons, Esq. in Minnesota who was disbarred in 2010 for filing suits under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). While there is a need for consumers to have recourse in bringing legal suits [...]

Picasso Pawn – Debt Relief Television Commercial

Commercial Name: Picasso Pawn Record Date: 11-25-2010 Network/Channel: Jerry Springer Description: Commercial informs viewers to turn to pawning items in order to meet bills and other obligations. Interesting how it is sold as having no impact on your credit. [quicktime]http://getoutofdebt.org/member/video/PicassoPawn-20101125.mov[/quicktime] The debt relief commercial above is presented only as an example and archive of debt [...]

My Mother is on a Fixed Income But Has $87K of Credit Card Debt. – Christopher

“Dear Steve, I have 2 situations: 1) 51 year old male, am unemployed, have approx $45K in debt 2) mom, 72 years old, $87K worth of CC debt, fixed income, playing interest every month, but getting no where. I was actually wondering if you recommend the various services that advertise on your website, or if [...]

My Husband Does Not Help Me to Pay My Debt. I’m Drowning in Debt. – Jane

“Dear Steve, I have $80,000 in credit card debt. I make about $50,000. The debt is in my name only. My husband makes about $120,000 a year and pays all the major household bills such as mortgage, car payments, insurance, utilities, etc. My income goes almost entirely to paying down my debt. My question is [...]

I Have a Question About My Girlfriend’s Statute of Limitations and Her Gateway Computer. – Brian

“Dear Steve, This is my girlfriends past debt. Back in 2000-2001 her then boyfriend bought a gateway computer from Gateway for about 3000$ in the state of Arizona. In 2002 she moved to Idaho. Last payment was made in 2003. No further action was taken on her part to resolve this debt. There is now [...]

SecureDebtUSA Offers $240,000/YR+ for Debt Settlement Sales Manager

I think this story qualifies for a quick WTF. A tipster (send in your tips here) sent in the employment listings for me to look at for a company called SecureDebtUSA. The reason for the WTF comment is I took a look at the SecureDebtUSA site where they claim “We were one of the pioneers [...]

Unemployed People Facing Loss of Benefits. What Next for Them?

by Marian Wang, ProPublica Unless Congress acts to extend programs for those who have exhausted regular state unemployment benefits, millions of jobless workers may soon be phased out of emergency unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits from states typically last for 26 weeks, but since 2008, Congress has on four occasions passed emergency provisions that use federal [...]

Debt Relief Marketer Says It Will Pay a $10,000 Signing Bonus

Here is a very interesting email from a basically anonymous company offering a $10,000 signing bonus for marketers who will sign on to sell attorney model debt relief services. I’m not sure who the company is but the return address was [email protected] What is very interesting in this email is the statement the consumer is [...]